Wall Street’s main indexes fell on Tuesday, pressured by technology stocks, after a slew of favorable economic data fueled uncertainty among investors over the pace of monetary policy easing the Federal Reserve may adopt this year .
A Labor Department report showed job openings totaled 8.098 million in November, compared with the 7.7 million expected by economists polled by Reuters.
Separately, an ISM survey showed services activity for December was in expansion territory, at 54.1, compared with expectations of 53.3. The index also increased compared to the previous month’s value.
Signs of the economy’s resilience have pushed back expectations for when the central bank might make its first interest rate cut this year, with traders betting on a change in June, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool.
At 10:16 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 69.82 points, or 0.17%, to 42,636.74, the S&P 500 lost 24.88 points, or 0.42%, to 5,950, 50 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 154.71 points, or 0.80%, to 19,710.27.
Under pressure on stocks, the 10-year Treasury yield rose to 4.677%, its highest level since May 2024.
Rate-sensitive sectors such as financials and real estate fell, while technology stocks fell 0.8%. Nvidia, a reference in artificial intelligence, fell 2.6%.
The main focus of the week is key non-farm payrolls data, along with the Fed’s December meeting minutes, expected later in the week.
Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth, said he expects the central bank to stay on standby and start cutting rates again when payrolls start to shrink a bit, which would relieve some of the inflationary pressure.
In the previous session, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq had closed below their highest levels of the week on uncertainty after President-elect Donald Trump denied a report that his team was exploring less aggressive tariff policies.
Analysts say Trump’s campaign promises of tax cuts, tariffs and loose regulation, if implemented, could reinvigorate the economy, although they could raise inflation and slow the pace of rate cuts. Its tariff plans, if put into practice, could also spark a trade war between the country’s major partners.
On the other hand, healthcare stocks led gains among S&P 500 sectors, up 1%. Vaccine makers such as Moderna Novavax and Pfizer have stepped up amid growing concerns about avian flu.
Tesla fell 2.9% after BofA Global Research downgraded the stock to “neutral” from “buy” and weighed on the consumer discretionary sector.
Source: Terra

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